Safe family suburb near the farm? (Houston, Sugar Land: cheap apartments, crime, house)

[flamazon]

Hello everyone,

I've been researching as much as I can about the Houston area in an effort to learn more about potential places to settle down. My husband is flying out next week for a final interview with Tree Town USA in Glen Flora, TX and we're trying to narrow down places he should check out while he's out there.

I'm a 29 year old Mexican-American mother of two and elementary school teacher from Oregon. My husband is originally from the Detroit area in Michigan so we're both used to northern climates, cold, and rain...moving to sunnier weather might actually be a welcome respite! He'd be taking over as the sole worker, if he gets the job. Meanwhile, I'd be staying with our 3 year old daughter one or two more years until she can attend school, with the plan eventually being that I can put my administrative degree into use and seek an assistant principalship at a school. All my family is in Oregon so we'd have no childcare. That said, we'll have to make due with a smaller house and budget based on one income.

Currently, we're living in a country town of roughly 11,000 people and it's about 50% Hispanic 50% Caucasian and found it comfortable. We drive into my nearby hometown which is about 100,000 people and has high-tech industry, plenty of shopping and some entertainment. For most larger scale entertainment, we drive about 40 minutes into Portland proper. Additionally, we're basketball and football fans and wouldn't mind being within a close-ish driving distance to those options. Our 6 year old son is in first grade in a Spanish dual-language immersion program....do these exist in the area?

Ideally we'd get the comfort of small town living and being close to amenities with great schools to boot. Upon researching, Rosenberg seems a bit too blue-collar according to some folks (is this a bad thing?), Richmond forums say the best schools are in the northern area (is it reasonable to get a home for under 175k?), Katy seems really expensive, and Sugar Land, judging from crime activity, seems kind of scary. Any help would most certainly be appreciated! I'm anticipating going out on hikes or running with my little girl so safety is a priority, followed by a strong educational program.

Also, would fairly moderate to liberal people like us be able to find our niche? We're not really religious (we're both of half-Christian, half-Jewish parents), vegetarian, hikers, foodies but not the Portlandia type either. We mostly are looking for fun, open-minded, and healthy people with kids who don't do super crazy stuff. We've heard Houston has GREAT food and are super excited about that! I look forward to hearing more about the area...it seems to have a lot of potential for our family!

~Ms. Acuña

[houston-nomad]

This is a tough bill to fill... Houston is a really big city, so to get to small town living and places to hike nearby takes you really far away from some of the other things you were after, like the good food scene.

Closer in: you get the good food scene, liberals, religious diversity, and Houston ISD has dual-language schools, some of which are really good. Downside: high density, and high costs.

Further out: more affordable, more space, more nature, but more conservative people and chain restaurants.

Personally, as someone who shares some of your interests, we opted for a close-in but still reasonably affordable neighborhood (77035/77096, if you want to do a search on HAR.com). It's very quiet and green, and for "hiking" (if you can call walking on the totally flat terrain of SE Texas hiking) we go to one of the big parks in the area, a 20-60 minute drive.

My second choice would be Sugar Land.

[MumHouston]

I would suggest the homes in the 77031 or 77071 zip code which border one another. You can easily find a home in your price range, and your husband will have an easy reverse commute. Living in HISD will allow you greater access to liberal/ like minded individuals, and HISD has the greatest number of Dual-Language Spanish elementary school. There are MANY jewish families in the Northfield Subdivision (77071) and the JCC is close by. The areas outside the subdivision can be sketchy, but when is life in the big city devoid of sketchy?

[Houston321]

I can assure you Sugar Land is not scary. Unless you find an abundance of Subway's, nail salon's, dry cleaner's, and every chain restaurant known to mankind frightening.

[westres1]

You might like West Houston and its access to Terry Hershey park. It is partially zoned to HISD and the higher end homes North of the park are in Spring Branch. Close in enough to enjoy all the great aspects of Houston and its great food scene.
77042,77077,77079

[nana053]

Glen Flora is an hour or more from Houston. Not sure what is between the two, but maybe you can find something.

[detachable arm]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

This is a tough bill to fill... Houston is a really big city, so to get to small town living and places to hike nearby takes you really far away from some of the other things you were after, like the good food scene.

Closer in: you get the good food scene, liberals, religious diversity, and Houston ISD has dual-language schools, some of which are really good. Downside: high density, and high costs.

Further out: more affordable, more space, more nature, but more conservative people and chain restaurants.

This is a very flawed description of Houston. Don't give this lady a bum steer.

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by detachable arm

This is a very flawed description of Houston. Don't give this lady a bum steer.

How is it flawed? I mean, obviously I'm generalizing, but they're pretty accurate generalizations.

[detachable arm]

"Closer in" is cheaper unless you're in a trendy white area. Most people here wouldn't dare live in or even explore those massive swaths of the "real" Houston with cheap apartments and mediocre neighborhoods, but I don't blame them. Most suburbs will not have nature at all and are just as dense and congested as Houston as a whole. As far as national chains go they are all over inner Houston, including that brand new Upper Kirby Olive Garden. And the inner loop has more fast food places than I've ever seen anywhere besides Los Angeles. The international district is where you find real religious diversity-- and it outside the beltway to highway 6 and hugs Sugar land. You don't get anymore diverse than that in Texas or even the South or Southwest (loosely speaking). There have been dual language programs in suburban schools for some time now, in Spanish. Conservative people-- I agree with you but many sections of the city people recommend here are also conservative. There are no neighborhoods here that are bastions of liberalism anymore.

[Spartacus713]

What about Richmond, Texas?